Novak Djokovic's victory over Martin Etcheverry of Argentina in the third round of the Australian Open has a double meaning: the Serb became the third player in history to reach 100 matches in Australia after Roger Federer and Serena Williams, and the first to play at least 100 matches at all Grand Slams.
This is reported by UNN with reference to the ORF television and radio company.
Details
On January 19, world number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia played his 100th match at the first Grand Slam of 2024, defeating Thomas Martin Etcheverry (ATP ranking: 32) 6:3 6:3 7:6 (7/2).
It was my best performance at this tournament. I am very happy in this regard. I found the right shots in the tiebreaker
It is worth noting that by playing his 100th match at the Australian Open, Djokovic became the first tennis player to reach at least one hundred matches at all Grand Slam tournaments.
In Australia, the Serbian tennis player has won the title 10 times and now hopes to do it again. Only Serena Williams and Roger Federer have played more times than him in Melbourne: the American - 105 times, and the Swiss - 117. But now Djokovic has a real chance to surpass these two great legends.
У Південній Кореї стартували зимові Юнацькі Олімпійські ігри 202419.01.24, 15:54
How the match went down
Against Etcheverry, the "Joker" was in control from the start. In the first two sets, he always managed an early break. Djokovic did not allow a single break point on his own serve and broke the Argentine's serve in the first set with a score of 3-2.
In the second set, Djokovic took a 3-1 lead and then easily maintained his lead. At 5-3, he defeated Etcheverry again, using his third set point. In the third set, the Argentine, the 32nd world number, kept the pace up to 6-6. Djokovic then prevailed in the tiebreaker.
To reach the quarterfinals, the 36-year-old Djokovic needs to defeat Frenchman Adriano Mannarino (ATP 19), who defeated American Ben Shelton (ATP 16) in five sets.
The Australian Open 2024 in Melbourne will run until January 28.